I will be buying one this weekend and am wondering about the latest as far as buying minutes cards go. Of course, the more minutes on a card you purchase the cheaper per minute. But, what is a good deal per minute say on a 120 minute card? Also, do all cards expire over a period of time and, if so, can you just add to your minutes at the time? Finally, is there a charge that is subtracted every time you dial out??

I have 2 TracFones but only buy the 1 year cards. All cards expire, either 2 (or 3) months & yearly (although there are some new ones like double minutes for life that I really haven't looked into). You can't "add minutes" ever, you must do it through a card. You get charged for dialing out IF you make a connection; if you hang up before a pick-up, you don't lose any "units" (at least I'm pretty sure that's how it works).

I've bought mine direct through the TF website; you can usually get pretty decent deals with extra minutes if you activate it on-line. You can buy new or refurbished. I think they cancelled the "refer-a-friend" program but you should verify that as it's another way to get extra air time for free (basically, a current TF user refers you & when you buy/activate, both parties get 100 free minutes).

For the way I use a cell, the TF is a great choice. If you plan to be a heavy user you'll be much better off getting a cell phone with a monthly plan.

Let me know if you have other questions. Good luck.

Bought a Motorola v170 for 19.88 and a year card, just what we needed.

Good advice.

tracfone worked well for me for a while but they suck if you have a problem with your phone. you have to mail it in and then wait a few weeks for them to figure out what is wrong with it and send you a new one.

i had the same model phone and it didn't last long.

I've had one V170 for close to 2 years with no problems. My other Motorola phone worked great for over 6 years but TF replaced it for free with another V170 (which I've only had for 2 weeks now) due to some system change. It was a bit of a hassle to transfer the number & minutes from one phone to the other but it was ultimately done & I'm up & running.

I just got an e-mail from TF with some new plans they're offering. One interests me - for $9.99/month they will add 50 minutes of air time + 1 month of service. No activation or cancellation fees. I'd get more minutes than the annual card for a bit more money & the convenience of not needing to monitor the expiration date.

All in all, I'm a satisfied TF user.